Following their lipophilicity, it is more plausible that vitamin E and ß-carotene cooperate to protect membranes and lipoproteins from oxidative damages. Of course, as all antioxidants, vitamin E exerts other biological functions that are independent from its antioxidant properties, including modulation of cellular signaling, gene expression, immune response, and many more. However, as opposed to other vitamins, lack of vitamin E results in rather unspecific symptoms, also highlighting that this vitamin is mainly needed for its antioxidant activity in vivo. For example, deficiency of vitamin E has shown to provoke oxidative stress disturbances in transgenic rats. In another.
